Internet service provider
Encyclopedia
An Internet service provider (ISP) is a company that provides access to the Internet
. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless
or fiber-optic
connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers (colocation
). Transit ISPs provide large amounts of bandwidth
for connecting hosting ISPs to access ISPs.
As a result of its popularity, commercial Internet service providers sprang up to offer access to the Internet to anyone willing to pay for the service, mainly to those who missed their university accounts.
In 1990, Brookline, Massachusetts-based The World
became the first commercial ISP.
ISPs employ a range of technologies to enable consumers to connect to their network.
For users and small business
es, traditional options include: dial-up, DSL (typically Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
, ADSL), broadband wireless, cable modem
, fiber to the premises (FTTH), and Integrated Services Digital Network
(ISDN) (typically basic rate interface
).
For customers with more demanding requirements, such as medium-to-large businesses, or other ISPs, DSL (often Single-Pair High-speed Digital Subscriber Line or ADSL), Ethernet
, Metropolythian Ethernet
, Gigabit Ethernet
, Frame Relay
, ISDN (B.R.I.
or P.R.I.
), ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)
and upload satellite Internet access
. Sync-optical cabling
(SONET) are more likely to be used.
; it is entirely possible to e.g. connect to an ISP located in Mexico
from the USA. Other means of connection such as cable
or DSL require a fixed registered connection node, usually associated at the ISP with a physical address.
routinely provide email, FTP, and web-hosting services. Other services include virtual machines, clouds, or entire physical servers where customers can run their own custom software.
In the simplest case, a single connection is established to an upstream ISP and is used to transmit data to or from areas of the Internet beyond the home network; this mode of interconnection is often cascaded multiple times until reaching a Tier 1 carrier. In reality, the situation is often more complex. ISPs with more than one point of presence
(PoP) may have separate connections to an upstream ISP at multiple PoPs, or they may be customers of multiple upstream ISPs and may have connections to each one of them at one or more point of presence.
, where multiple ISPs interconnect at peering points or Internet exchange point
s (IXs), allowing routing of data between each network, without charging one another for the data transmitted—data that would otherwise have passed through a third upstream ISP, incurring charges from the upstream ISP.
ISPs requiring no upstream and having only customers (end customers and/or peer ISPs) are called Tier 1 ISPs.
Network hardware, software and specifications, as well as the expertise of network management personnel are important in ensuring that data follows the most efficient route, and upstream connections work reliably. A tradeoff between cost and efficiency is possible.
(VISP) is an operation which purchases services from another ISP (sometimes called a "wholesale ISP" in this context) which allow the VISP's customers to access the Internet using services and infrastructure owned and operated by the wholesale ISP.
, in a sense they are selling the users' attention to the advertiser. Other free ISPs, often called freenets
, are run on a nonprofit basis, usually with volunteer staff.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
or fiber-optic
Fiber-optic communication
Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of light through an optical fiber. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information...
connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers (colocation
Colocation centre
A colocation centre or colocation center , is a type of data centre where equipment space and bandwidth are available for rental to retail customers...
). Transit ISPs provide large amounts of bandwidth
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a contiguous set of frequencies. It is typically measured in hertz, and may sometimes refer to passband bandwidth, sometimes to baseband bandwidth, depending on context...
for connecting hosting ISPs to access ISPs.
History
The Internet started off as a closed network between government research laboratories and relevant parts of universities. As it became more popular, universities and colleges started giving more of their members access to it.As a result of its popularity, commercial Internet service providers sprang up to offer access to the Internet to anyone willing to pay for the service, mainly to those who missed their university accounts.
In 1990, Brookline, Massachusetts-based The World
The World (internet service provider)
The World is an internet service provider originally headquartered in Brookline, Massachusetts. It was the first internet service provider offering dial-up access to the general public, doing so since 1989....
became the first commercial ISP.
Access provider
ISPs employ a range of technologies to enable consumers to connect to their network.
For users and small business
Small business
A small business is a business that is privately owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships...
es, traditional options include: dial-up, DSL (typically Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
Asymmetric digital subscriber line is a type of digital subscriber line technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. It does this by utilizing frequencies that are not used by a voice...
, ADSL), broadband wireless, cable modem
Cable modem
A cable modem is a type of network bridge and modem that provides bi-directional data communication via radio frequency channels on a HFC and RFoG infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access in the form of cable Internet, taking advantage of the high...
, fiber to the premises (FTTH), and Integrated Services Digital Network
Integrated Services Digital Network
Integrated Services Digital Network is a set of communications standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the traditional circuits of the public switched telephone network...
(ISDN) (typically basic rate interface
Basic rate interface
Basic Rate Interface is an Integrated Services Digital Network configuration intended primarily for use in subscriber lines similar to those that have long been used for plain old telephone service...
).
For customers with more demanding requirements, such as medium-to-large businesses, or other ISPs, DSL (often Single-Pair High-speed Digital Subscriber Line or ADSL), Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
, Metropolythian Ethernet
Metro Ethernet
A Metro Ethernet is a computer network that covers a metropolitan area and that is based on the Ethernet standard. It is commonly used as a metropolitan access network to connect subscribers and businesses to a larger service network or the Internet...
, Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet is a term describing various technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second , as defined by the IEEE 802.3-2008 standard. It came into use beginning in 1999, gradually supplanting Fast Ethernet in wired local networks where it performed...
, Frame Relay
Frame relay
Frame Relay is a standardized wide area network technology that specifies the physical and logical link layers of digital telecommunications channels using a packet switching methodology...
, ISDN (B.R.I.
Basic rate interface
Basic Rate Interface is an Integrated Services Digital Network configuration intended primarily for use in subscriber lines similar to those that have long been used for plain old telephone service...
or P.R.I.
Primary rate interface
The Primary Rate Interface is a standardized telecommunications service level within the Integrated Services Digital Network specification for carrying multiple DS0 voice and data transmissions between a network and a user....
), ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)
Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a standard switching technique designed to unify telecommunication and computer networks. It uses asynchronous time-division multiplexing, and it encodes data into small, fixed-sized cells. This differs from approaches such as the Internet Protocol or Ethernet that...
and upload satellite Internet access
Satellite Internet access
Satellite Internet access is Internet access provided through satellites. The service can be provided to users world-wide through low Earth orbit satellites. Geostationary satellites can offer higher data speeds, but their signals can not reach some polar regions of the world...
. Sync-optical cabling
Synchronous optical networking
Synchronous Optical Networking and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy are standardized multiplexing protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diodes . At low transmission rates data can also be transferred via an...
(SONET) are more likely to be used.
- Typical home user connectivity
- Broadband wireless accessBroadband wireless accessWireless Broadband refers to technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area.-The term broadband:...
- Cable InternetCable internetIn telecommunications, cable Internet access, often shortened to cable Internet or simply cable, is a form of broadband Internet access that uses the cable television infrastructure. Like digital subscriber line and fiber to the premises services, cable Internet access provides network edge...
- Dial-up
- ISDN
- ModemModemA modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
- DSLDigital Subscriber LineDigital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
- FTTH
- Wi-FiWi-FiWi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
- Broadband wireless access
- Business-type connection:
- DSLDigital Subscriber LineDigital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
- Metro EthernetMetro EthernetA Metro Ethernet is a computer network that covers a metropolitan area and that is based on the Ethernet standard. It is commonly used as a metropolitan access network to connect subscribers and businesses to a larger service network or the Internet...
technology - Leased lineLeased lineA leased line is a service contract between a provider and a customer, whereby the provider agrees to deliver a symmetric telecommunications line connecting two or more locations in exchange for a monthly rent . It is sometimes known as a 'Private Circuit' or 'Data Line' in the UK or as CDN in Italy...
- SHDSL
- DSL
Locality
When using a dial-up or ISDN connection method, the ISP cannot determine the caller's physical location to more detail than using the number transmitted using an appropriate form of Caller IDCaller ID
Caller ID , also called calling line identification or calling number identification or Calling Line Identification Presentation , is a telephone service, available in analog and digital phone systems and most Voice over Internet Protocol applications, that transmits a caller's number to...
; it is entirely possible to e.g. connect to an ISP located in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
from the USA. Other means of connection such as cable
DOCSIS
Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification is an international telecommunications standard that permits the addition of high-speed data transfer to an existing cable TV system...
or DSL require a fixed registered connection node, usually associated at the ISP with a physical address.
Mailbox provider
A company or organization that provides email mailbox hosting services for end users and/or organizations. Many Mailbox Providers are also Access Providers.Hosting ISPs
Hosting ISPsInternet hosting service
An Internet hosting service is a service that runs Internet servers, allowing organizations and individuals to serve content to the Internet. There are various levels of service and various kinds of services offered....
routinely provide email, FTP, and web-hosting services. Other services include virtual machines, clouds, or entire physical servers where customers can run their own custom software.
Transit ISPs
Just as their customers pay them for Internet access, ISPs themselves pay upstream ISPs for Internet access. An upstream ISP usually has a larger network than the contracting ISP and/or is able to provide the contracting ISP with access to parts of the Internet the contracting ISP by itself has no access to.In the simplest case, a single connection is established to an upstream ISP and is used to transmit data to or from areas of the Internet beyond the home network; this mode of interconnection is often cascaded multiple times until reaching a Tier 1 carrier. In reality, the situation is often more complex. ISPs with more than one point of presence
Point of presence
A point of presence is an artificial demarcation point or interface point between communications entities. It may include a meet-me-room.In the US, this term became important during the court-ordered breakup of the Bell Telephone system...
(PoP) may have separate connections to an upstream ISP at multiple PoPs, or they may be customers of multiple upstream ISPs and may have connections to each one of them at one or more point of presence.
Peering
ISPs may engage in peeringPeering
In computer networking, peering is a voluntary interconnection of administratively separate Internet networks for the purpose of exchanging traffic between the customers of each network. The pure definition of peering is settlement-free or "sender keeps all," meaning that neither party pays the...
, where multiple ISPs interconnect at peering points or Internet exchange point
Internet Exchange Point
An Internet exchange point is a physical infrastructure through which Internet service providers exchange Internet traffic between their networks . IXPs reduce the portion of an ISP's traffic which must be delivered via their upstream transit providers, thereby reducing the average per-bit...
s (IXs), allowing routing of data between each network, without charging one another for the data transmitted—data that would otherwise have passed through a third upstream ISP, incurring charges from the upstream ISP.
ISPs requiring no upstream and having only customers (end customers and/or peer ISPs) are called Tier 1 ISPs.
Network hardware, software and specifications, as well as the expertise of network management personnel are important in ensuring that data follows the most efficient route, and upstream connections work reliably. A tradeoff between cost and efficiency is possible.
Derivatives
The following are not a different type of the above ISPs, rather they are derivatives of the 3 core ISP types. A VISP is reselling either access or hosting services. Free ISPs are similar, but they just have a different revenue model.Virtual ISP
A Virtual ISPVirtual ISP
A Virtual ISP , also known as an Affinity ISP, is an Internet Service Provider that resells the resources of existing ISPs under another brand name.-Overview:...
(VISP) is an operation which purchases services from another ISP (sometimes called a "wholesale ISP" in this context) which allow the VISP's customers to access the Internet using services and infrastructure owned and operated by the wholesale ISP.
Free ISP
Free ISPs are Internet Service Providers (ISPs) which provide service free of charge. Many free ISPs display advertisements while the user is connected; like commercial televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, in a sense they are selling the users' attention to the advertiser. Other free ISPs, often called freenets
Free-Net
A free-net was originally meant to mean a computer system which provides public access to a large number of resources including community information through text-based dialup...
, are run on a nonprofit basis, usually with volunteer staff.
Related services
- Broadband Internet accessBroadband Internet accessBroadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is a high data rate, low-latency connection to the Internet— typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56 kbit/s modem or satellite Internet with inherently high latency....
- Fixed wireless accessBroadband wireless accessWireless Broadband refers to technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area.-The term broadband:...
- CableCable modemA cable modem is a type of network bridge and modem that provides bi-directional data communication via radio frequency channels on a HFC and RFoG infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access in the form of cable Internet, taking advantage of the high...
- Triple playTriple play (telecommunications)In telecommunications, triple play service is a marketing term for the provisioning of two bandwidth-intensive services, high-speed Internet access and television, and a less bandwidth-demanding service, telephone, over a single broadband connection. Triple play focuses on a combined business...
- Fixed wireless access
- Internet hosting serviceInternet hosting serviceAn Internet hosting service is a service that runs Internet servers, allowing organizations and individuals to serve content to the Internet. There are various levels of service and various kinds of services offered....
- Web hosting serviceWeb hosting serviceA web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providing Internet...
- E-mail hosting serviceE-mail hosting serviceAn email hosting service is an Internet hosting service that runs email servers.Email hosting services usually offer premium email at a cost as opposed to advertisement-supported free email or free webmail. Email hosting services thus differ from typical end-user email providers such as webmail sites...
- DNS hosting serviceDNS hosting serviceA DNS hosting service is a service that runs Domain Name System servers. Most, but not all, domain name registrars include DNS hosting service with registration. Free DNS hosting services also exist...
- Web hosting service
- Dynamic DNSDynamic DNSDynamic DNS or DDNS is a term used for the updating in real time of Internet Domain Name System name servers to keep up to date the active DNS configuration of their configured hostnames, addresses and other information....
See also
- Federation of Internet Solution Providers of the AmericasFederation of Internet Solution Providers of the AmericasThe Federation of Internet Solution Providers of the Americas is an association of Internet service providers.FISPA was established in 1996 under the name Florida Internet Solution Providers Association. After expanding beyond the bounds of Florida, the organization was renamed the Federation of...
(FISPA) - Free-netFree-NetA free-net was originally meant to mean a computer system which provides public access to a large number of resources including community information through text-based dialup...
- IP addressIP addressAn Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
- Internet backboneInternet backboneThe Internet backbone refers to the principal data routes between large, strategically interconnected networks and core routers in the Internet...
- Internet Provider SecurityInternet Provider SecurityInternet Provider Security tags are used by Internet Service Providers to allow control of the Domain Name System . An IPS tag is the case sensitive label that applies to each ISP and is required to transfer domain names from one ISP to another...
- Network access pointNetwork access pointA Network Access Point was a public network exchange facility where Internet Service Providers connected with one another in peering arrangements. The NAPs were a key component in the transition from the NSFNET era when many networks were government sponsored and commercial traffic was prohibited...
- Second-level ISPSecond-level ISPThe last five years have seen the development of Second-level ISP’s. They are actually a type of anonymous internet access providers which is distinct from other anonymous browsing solutions . A Second-level ISP provides secure and anonymous internet access using two main technologies: SSH...
- Wireless internet service provider